ferrets..

[Ja1983]

after weeks of wittering and purchasing a winch/chainsaw/new motor.. i was left in a vulnerable position when Bex decided she wanted a new pet...

..so after flicking through the net we found some baby ferrets, went for a look, and came home with a 10 week old girl ferret.

lovely, cute, nicely marked....



..and as friendly as a bear with a sore 455!

She thought it was hysterical when i ended up doing a richard whitely impression with the horrid little thing stuck to my thumb... but it wasnt funny when it took a chunk out of her finger later on.

we did do a bit of research, and had a hutch made up before we got her... but just werent expecting them to be so aggressive at such a young age.

i`m sure in time, she wil be fine, its just that time before then thats a problem!

should we take her back, get an older ferret (Bex does love them) stick with her, but get some BIG gloves?

fine holding her, just the handling part...  :roll:

[muddydisco]

She will be fine has long has you keep holding her and make contact with her. The people before have most proberly not bothered with them. But trust me she will be fine along has you make contact with her aleast half an hour a day.

[rollazuki]

I had a Rat with similar ideas years ago. I handled it with a pair of gloves(leather) on for a month or so to get it used to being handled, and then it was the best pet ever, you hardly needed to put it in its cage, it just kinda wandered about. No more biting tho.

[Snooky]

Best advice I had was to feed from a cup not the hand, that way they associate the cup with food and not you, so will dive into the cup and not bite, works a treat.

And like any young animal, instinct tells them to bite, try a baby snake, mad little [!Expletive Deleted!] they are  

[Hoppie]

my ferret is just like a baby  :lol:  :lol:  he likes cuddles and plays with the cats even chases the dogs .

its worth reading the dummys guide to ferrets  :lol:  :lol:

[freelanderpx54]

Persevere it is worth it. Ferrets make great pets and even better woking animals. Treat them like a puppy - if they bite then nip their back leg, if they do well then reward them.

[johnpirate]

I,ve got four .Three jills and a hob.The mother is the best thing you could ever meet.She loves to be handled and loves to work.One of the jills has to bite as you try and collect the empty bowl. The hob who as been great for months decided he wanted a chunk.I know its my fault as now I,m back coach driving they are not getting attention.Give them time they are worth it.Mine run round making noises that remind me of Otters but they are the same family .And you have to love an otter.

[Highlander1]

Remember that if it's a gill you need her to have sex once in a while otherwise they die they need the sex inorder to come out of season.

If not they will keep menstrating until they become so week they give up.

We have a hob which has been done he services the gills to keep em going. :shock:  

[Ja1983]

:shock: is that true?

i know i went a while without much luck, and must admit i came close, but have not heard that about ferrets?

....update, she is biting less, seems more comfortable around us, although does occasioanlly nip!

[richo]

They don't have to have sex and they won't die if they don't get it .Just put half a brick in with her when she is on heat and that will help her as she will rub herself on it.
A old game keeper told me that years ago when i was a lad and it works.After all he should know he'd worked ferrets for 50 years.
I was also told that they are part of the dog family and can be house trained and walked.If you handle them every day they will be less likley to bite.
Make sure you had a good hutch and run as they are the best dam escape artists i know and there not scared of much,mine took a german shepard on once and won.

[Keri]

Ferret rescue is a good place to get ferrets from that are already none biters. Mine were from there and i have only been bitten once that was when the other ferret had died and the alive one was in shock and sad she decided to latch onto my neck, liam had to prize her mouth open to get her off me. But shes never done it before and never done it since. She was just unhappy. I dont feed with a cup either i use my hand to put the food in and she seems to tell well the difference between hands and food.
She does "nip" when she is playing but not even hard enough to mark your skin nevermind break it.
Its more like a licky kiss with a nibble lol

We did have one ferret once a hob before the one(s) now who would not stop biting and when he bit he ripped hands apart. In the end he went to the ferret rescue because just couldn't handle him  we tryed would work. Hes rehomed now and good as gold apprently.

In my opinion if your ferret is a pet and your not going to breed then you should have them spayed or castrated ASAP. It only costs about £20 iirc at my local vets.

Here she is on the bonnet of my jugs. She quite enjoys it up there.

[Highlander1]

They don't have to have sex and they won't die if they don't get it .Just put half a brick in with her when she is on heat and that will help her as she will rub herself on it.
A old game keeper told me that years ago when i was a lad and it works.After all he should know he'd worked ferrets for 50 years.
I was also told that they are part of the dog family and can be house trained and walked.If you handle them every day they will be less likley to bite.
Make sure you had a good hutch and run as they are the best dam escape artists i know and there not scared of much,mine took a german shepard on once and won.

Hi Richo

Interesting bit of advice mate I never head that before.

I used to work 25 ferrets with a pest control mate.

My daughters  ferrets have a large concrete Avery with bricks rocks and all sorts of things to keep them amused. they have a separate box.

When she got her first gill it became I'll and started wasting away despite the bricks and stuff in the run. We went to the vet and he advised us regards the menstruation issue so we got a hob and had him done so he could service the gill.

All has been fine since then.

They don't all die if not serviced but a great many do.

Do you give yours vitamin supplement's or anything.

Looks fantastic by the way nice picture.

we have 14 at present and yer right they make great pets and can be taken for long walks on a wee lead and harness.

Does the half brick need to be placed in a certain way or be of a certain texture or type of clay.

Only 2 of them nip her hobs are big softies and have never bitten or nipped.

Nice to share experiences.

Cheers Mate

[Keri]

Maybe iv got more confused than i thought i was, but was the nice picture comment for me? as i posted the picture unless other guy posted one then took one down  :?  oh dear

[Highlander1]

Maybe iv got more confused than i thought i was, but was the nice picture comment for me? as i posted the picture unless other guy posted one then took one down  :?  oh dear

It was indeed sorry for the confusion. :lol:

[Keri]

Maybe iv got more confused than i thought i was, but was the nice picture comment for me? as i posted the picture unless other guy posted one then took one down  :?  oh dear

It was indeed sorry for the confusion. :lol:

Ahhh and thanks  :P  :D she's called smelly poo just for referance.

And also i know you were asking the other guy but mine doesn't have ferretvite or anything like that. She has james well beloved dry food. With raw foods ie organs of certain animals and raw meats of certain animals. She seems to love both. I got some lists off the net of reccommended raw foods for ferrets and the vitimins etc that were in each type so thats how i work it and she seems healthy enough  :)

[Range Rover Blues]

We were thinking seriously about a ferret a few years ago/  What Ilike was that they won't be intimidated by the local cat population the way some pets can be (they scar guiny pigs to death) and with good reason, cats make good eat'n :lol:

We ended up with a parrott though and yeap, the cats sometimes sit outside staring at it through the patio window.

If I win the lottery I'm having a military macaw, they aren't scared of cats either :twisted:

"here kitty kitty kitty" chomp.

[Ja1983]

having picked her up ungloved tonite (she always comes to the mesh when i`m off to work and return... like shes been watching me!) she tried a nip, but didnt bite...

think shes getting used to us!  :D

not sure what to call her tho.. SWMBO has been calling her TT 9twinkle toes) :roll:

naturally i thought this was a **** name for something that nearly removed my thumb the first time we met!

ah well!

[deli hustler]

found one in our car park, and just kept biting me and compaired to the lizards we keep it really did smell

[AbyssDJ]

not read the rest of the thread, but if you let ferrets see that you're nervous they'll take advantage. they pick up on it really easy.

[Lord Shagg-Pyle]

, she is biting less, seems more comfortable around us, although does occasioanlly nip!

Sounds like my wife after being fed chocolate!

[Highlander1]

If you hold em around the shoulder area with one hand so they can't nip and wrap your hand round the body by drawing you hand down the body and swinging then gently back and forward they will love it this is the approved method of calming them down. Ours almost fall asleep.

I touch them firmly on the snout if they try to bite they soon learn.

hope they live long  trouble free lives.

Cheers H

[Lord Shagg-Pyle]

If you hold em around the shoulder area with one hand so they can't nip and wrap your hand round the body by drawing you hand down the body and swinging then gently back and forward they will love it this is the approved method of calming them down. Ours almost fall asleep.

I touch them firmly on the snout if they try to bite they soon learn.

hope they live long  trouble free lives.

Cheers H

Still sounds like my wife.

[Highlander1]

:mrgreen:

[Ja1983]

:D


...remind me again which one i`m to stroke downwards, and rock back and fourth...?  :lol:

[Lord Shagg-Pyle]

:D


...remind me again which one i`m to stroke downwards, and rock back and fourth...?  :lol:

Whatever you feel comfortable with, baby, yeah! :D  :D  :D  :D

[diggerdog36]

Ive had Ferrets all my life, im a Gamekeeper now and know that Jills die if they dont mate, it happened to me for years until I was told the story, they had bricks in their hutch too, it didnt make a difference.

As for the biting, mine were working Ferrets so they were vicious, but they did their job really well, my friend has some Ferrets and they are useless with rabbits and scared of rats, because his daughter treats them like pets and handles them every day!

[waterrover]

i have  had and bred ferrets for over 20 years , never had one die cos of lack of mating  (cleanliness is parramount tho) as for pets not hunting  my 2 jills were pets for 2 years till i rescued them from being thrown out , within a month of having them they had both bolted loads of rabbits , i continue to handle them every day  with no adverse effects .

[richo]

Does the half brick need to be placed in a certain way or be of a certain texture or type of clay.


i had mine for 5 to 6 years and i only put the brick in when the time was right and it worked for my jill.Mine was kept on her own so maybe thats why she used it.
I would love to have more ferrets but don't have much time because of work ,they really are very funny to watch.
I also had a hob but got rid because he was a little sod for biting.He was good at getting other peoples jills out of warrens when ferreting as he was a bully and would fight anything
I called my jill olop which is polo spelt backwards ,can't remember why i called her that though.